And yes, you're right - that answers the OPT question. If there were something clearly superior to a Zen OPT I would have used it in these monos. There isn't.

Steve Deckert

The reality Steve is that a Plitron transformer won't fit on your chassis. I am not saying that a Plitron is superior because it is more expensive. It is superior because of its design/designer. Bigger is not always better, true. But in this case, better happens to be bigger.

The reality Steve is that a Plitron transformer won't fit on your chassis. I am not saying that a Plitron is superior because it is more expensive. It is superior because of its design/designer. Bigger is not always better, true. But in this case, better happens to be bigger.

Corey

Come on. You really think the flagship amplifier by Decware had it's OPT dictated by the chassis size?

That's just Randy's attempt to talk himself out of buying one, although for the amount he has spent on the rest of his system(s), I think he will spring for them soon or later. I mean how could he not they sound like a PERFECT match for a CSP2 preamp. Now if Steve would make a pair in the old black chassis style Randy could not resist that, in fact that is what Steve should do make a black pair to match the old style CSP and have it at the fest. I would bet money that Randy would ride home with them if he did.

I recently purchased a stand for my trusty old Takamine acoustic guitar. Until now, it had sat in its case and I walked past it several times a day. With it sitting on a stand, almost every time I walk by, it gets picked up and played ..... if just for a few minutes ..... 8-)

A few of the songs on one of the David Munyon CDs kept going through my head, so I sat down and figured out the chords. I am getting a great deal of pleasure playing and singing these songs ..... even with my "croaking" voice ..... ::)

My local music equipment store will be taking on the Taylor line of acoustic guitars in the next week or two. The last time I played a Taylor, it even made me sound pretty good ..... ;D

Corey: Maybe you should wait a bit befor passing judgement on something none of us have yet heard! Don

Don,

First off let me explain where I am coming from. I spent a great deal of money taking the Decware output transformers to the limit by having a Decware amp of mine modified by Eddie Vaughn of Vaughn Audio. That particular amp used EL34's which can be run hotter and with more current than the SV83's. A tube that really shed light on exactly what the Decware output transformers could handle in terms of current.

In an effort to get more low end attack, the designer attempted more current but to no avail. You simply can't change the laws of physics. In dealing with an SET transformer, the design will saturate at a given point, hence larger iron is used to handle more current. If you want the low end grunt and impact that makes an SET sound like a 200 watt SS, then you NEED large iron, that's reality.

After talking about the shortcomings of the Decware iron in the low end registers, Eddie told me that the midbass attack was incredible and very musical, and that is the key to the Decware sound, the midbass. When the midbass is fast, fluent and doesn't interfere with the midrange coherency, the sound can be very good. Couple that with the fact that many customers have not put any effort in their rooms to deal with low end modal issues, and the midbass response can be favourable. Nothing appears to be missing. This is how Decware customers are hearing their SET's on the average full range driver or speaker system not incorporating a sub system. The music is enjoyable and the bass lines track musically, snappy and coherent.

Enter the next step into an SET amp: large iron. Is large iron a trade off in sound? Not if you go with the good stuff. The trade off is cost and space. You can't sell an amp to broke audiophiles using expensive iron and you can't tuck that iron inside your amp making everything look all clean, petite and pretty. Amen?

So to answer your statement, I would have to be waiting for the laws of physics to change to be guilty of passing judgement on the new mono blocks without hearing them. Been there, done that, spent $2500 on the T-shirt. Perhaps if I owned a pair of Decware Corner Horns in a perfect custom room then I might be satisfied with the low end authority of the Decware iron. Unfortunately I will never own a pair of those speakers and it appears that not many others will be owning a pair as well. I have heard of only one pair built since the introduction of the plans.

That leaves myself and the thousands of others owning full range cabinets with the option to spend more money and enjoy the attack and authority that only expensive, large wound transformers can produce. This means getting in touch with someone who CAN build you an exceptional sounding, one-off custom amp and it also means starting at around $2000. If I am going to be spending $2000 on amplification, I certainly am not going to limit my low end response with Decware iron. Scrabble wound, monopoly wound, call it what you like. The low end pressure is severely lacking compared to what's available.

Am I making many friends with this post? Most likely not. Am I against Decware? Not at all, but when I think of the name, I think of speakers.